The Oregon Pioneer statue that tops the building is another work by Ulric Ellerhusen. This heroic figure represents the spirit of Oregon’s early settlers. Cast in bronze and finished in gold leaf, it weights 8.5 tons and is hollow inside. The base of the 23-foot high statue is 140 feet above the ground. The statue is reached by 121 steps spiraling up into the tower from the fourth floor of the building out onto a deck providing a spectacular view of Salem.
Counter to popular belief, the statue does not rotate.
Note: My thoughts on the evolution vs. creation debate are complex and well researched. My intention concerning this video is to demonstrate a fallacy, not to critique anyone’s convictions.
Update:
I’m sorry, I was done, but this came up. I hope this next clip is out of context. Because it is pretty funny. It is arguments like this that turn people off of religion and cause them to forget how powerful God and religion can be. And, what religion should be about — not how we got here, but how to make this place better while we are here.
My response? Maybe the banana evolved to fit the monkey’s hand, allowing the monkey to use that thumb for other things… and then… humans! Its all just silly!
Update: Crap. Sorry. You have to watch these too. The argument continues. All so full of fallacies.
Notice, we are arguing less and less about God and evolution and more about fruit.
Ah. Nice. Snub your kid to rant about how kids are fat and society sucks! Way to set an example.
I wish to one day live in a culture that values a good trip to the sauna. Perhaps two or three times a week with friends. I just think it would be neat.
Just as work ended today, tragic news concerning my little coupe “the Civic.” Clever name for a Honda Civic huh?
Without leaving my lights on, or my door ajar, the battery in my little white beast had died. All that she could do for me now was make the little orange dials on her gauges dance a few centimeters in either direction. A slight blink of the digital odometer, but alas, little more.
Well, thanks to a quick jumpstart and a one block drive to Napa, everything is fine now. The battery was shot. Five years after the Civic rolled off the lot, her first heart gave up on her. But for only $79.95 and some time with a crescent wrench, all is well.
Robin: “You can’t get away from Batman that easy!” Batman: “Easily.” Robin: “Easily.” Batman: “Good grammar is essential, Robin.” Robin: “Thank you.” Batman: “You’re welcome.”
Do you remember the old Batman TV show? I used to watch it after school, at 5:00, every night. I think this was around fourth and fifth grade. Enjoy more Batman lectures here.
Bruce: “Yes, Dick, your bird calls are close to perfect. If more people practiced them, someday we might have a chance for real communication with our feathered friends.” Dick: “In that case I think I’ll polish up my ruby-crowned kinglet and my rose-breasted yellow-tailed grouse-beak calls.”
The comedy in these quotes is way ahead of its time.
Batman: “The green button will turn the car a la escarda o a la drecia.” Robin: “To the left or right. Threw in a little Spanish on me, huh, Batman?” Batman: “One should always keep abreast of foreign tongues, Robin.”
And, next:
“Catwoman! You can’t just come and interrupt a luncheon like this!”
I assume it is an evil telegram.
I think my new dream job is to be Catwoman’s henchman. How cool would that be?
Oh, nobody wants war. What will happen?
32 Pussyfoot Road? Really? Pretty much like having a sign outside that says ‘Catwoman here.’
What were they trying to say about hippies?
Holy this show sucks, Batman! I really loved this show as a kid. That Catwoman, though. She’s alright. Bat Girl as well.
Well, if not for the overcast day, spring is here, and I can see it in my front yard. I recently bought a new camera for work, a Canon Digital Rebel XTi, and I really need to get some practice. So, as a result, the readers of 7″ of Separation (all 4 of you) can sit back and enjoy my progress.
Here are a few shots from this morning.
A daffodil. These have been springing up everywhere! Junction City hosts a Daffodil Festival every year. The 35th annual Daffodil Festival went down last weekend. My mom and I drove out and had a nice time. It was a good way to spend the afternoon with moms.
Little pink flowers. I’m not sure what these are. I think they might be in the rose family, but I can’t nail them down in my ID book. If you know, let me know.
Fredrick, the slimy snail. Freddy here was creeping around on a tree just outside my door. I noticed him while I was drinking my coffee this morning. He put on quite a show.
I am pretty sure Freddy here is a Helix aspersa, which is not native to the Pacific Northwest, but can now be found all over the region.
In France, Freddy here would be a great snack, as Helix aspersa is the type of snail eaten throughout Europe.
Apparently, that is how Freddy got over here. It is believed the Helix aspersa was introduced by settlers as a dinner item, but some lucky snails never made the menu and escaped to plague gardens all over the Pacific Northwest.
Source: Plants and Animals of the Pacific Northwest by Eugene Korloff.
Dan came to visit last night. We went to check out the townie bar, a place called The Raven.
Like so many bars, it is a classic, elongated-and-shoved-in-a-city-block kind of place. Great country atmosphere. When we got there, the bar was full. Every seat taken.
We gathered that this was the after work crowd. The drink of choice for everyone was “a shot and a beer.” A shot of Jack and a Light Beer to wash it down. The Video Lottery games were full. People played pool. They have pinball! Three TVs played March Madness, ESPN and Law and Order. The bar folk are friendly and very much bar flies. The juke box played Bob Marly, Queen, Country Music and Eighties Rock (Not new wave).
We watched the closing moments of the Ohio St. and Tenn. game with a fellow named Buck, who “Came down to write up the board (the NCAA bracket on the wall), and get a shot and a beer and go home.”
These people are the absolute salt of the earth. They have families at home or the bar family is their family. They are rough people with hard lives. However, they were welcoming and friendly in their own way. They particularly enjoyed the “Drunken Monkey” game on the new gaming machine on the bar counter.
This is the type of place with a pay phone on the wall. When it rings, the closet person answers, then calls out, “Barbara! You got a call.” Barbara walks slowly from the other end of the bar, cigarette in hand. Everyone has a cigarette, they drink shot after shot, beer after beer. They are there every night.
There is something sad about the community they have built. There is hopelessness, yet there are smiles. There are hard times, but friendships. Life here is simple. I is appealing in a sense. However, it is sad and sometimes pathetic. What kind of lives are these? Are we all like these people? They are broken far worse than so many of us, yet they have community, friendship and laughs. They are stuck, but seem to no longer fight.
What can become of such people? What are their dreams? Do they have a chance, or has it passed them by completely?
A daffodil.
Little pink flowers.
Fredrick, the slimy snail.
